Marcel Sabitzer blames Manchester United struggles on the absence of three ‘leaders’

Marcel Sabitzer expresses empathy for the current situation at Manchester United and suggests that the team’s challenges are, in part, attributed to the unavailability of Casemiro, Luke Shaw, and Lisandro Martinez.

Sabitzer spent the second half of his last season on loan at Manchester United but his tenure ended as he joined Borussia Dortmund in the summer transfer window.

Meanwhile, United endured five Premier League defeats last season, and their prospects of advancing to the Champions League knockout stage have been dented by setbacks against Bayern Munich and Galatasaray.

Erik ten Hag’s position is currently under scrutiny after suffering 5 straight losses, but Sabitzer on the contrary believes that United will be able to bounce back once the squad is fully fit.

What does Marcel Sabitzer have to say?

“I feel very positive about my time there and still talk to a couple of people“

Sabitzer told The Athletic.

“You ask yourself, ‘what’s going on?’ There’s a lot of noise, results are not good, they’ve had defeats at home, which almost felt unthinkable last season. And there’s still the unresolved situation of the ownership. You can see what that does to a team.

I feel sorry for them because they’re all good guys, and extremely hungry for success.

Casemiro, Luke Shaw and Lisandro Martinez – they are leaders that provide structure and stability to the team.

Erik ten Hag comes up with very specific match plans and patterns of play. But if you have too many important players missing and too many changes as a result, things get lost between the tactics board and the pitch. The rhythm of players coming isn’t right, processes aren’t right.

In the Premier League and Champions League, you need your best players available. Everything feels a little labored and uncertain now. They need their big guys to show up and change the course of the season, but I believe things can change quickly once they get important players back.”

Sabitzer also commended Ten Hag’s ability to manage his players and emphasized that the United manager is exceptionally honest and forthright with his team.

“You can wake him up at 3am, he’d tell you his whole match plan by heart”

Sabitzer said.

“He’s very knowledgeable about football and tactics, a very hard worker, a perfectionist.

And he’s very straight with you. When I had a bad game, he showed me some situations and told me how to do it better next time. I liked that. You knew where you stood with him. He never threw you under the bus. Instead, he told players to go out and do better in the next game.

I learned a lot about football working under him. He’s a very good coach.”